


A Fresh Start

by HiddenTreasures



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-06-01 06:40:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6504826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenTreasures/pseuds/HiddenTreasures
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose and the Doctor take some time to themselves to acclimatize again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fresh Start

**Author's Note:**

> This was prompted by and written for madabouttennant over on Tumblr.

Pete was waiting for them at the zeppelin port when they landed. Rose walked up to him and gave him a big hug before she took the set of keys Pete handed her. Keys? Where was she going? The Doctor watched with increasing anxiety as Rose enveloped Jackie in a long embrace.

“Bye, Mum,” she whispered.

_Bye?_ The Doctor’s heart pounded in his chest and he feared the poor thing was about to give out on him. Jackie caught his eye over Rose’s shoulder, and he didn’t even try to hide the distress he was in. _Rose was leaving, Rose was leaving, Rose was leaving_ …

“I’m going away for a little while.”

The Doctor didn’t know what to say. He wanted to beg her to stay, or  to at least take him with her. Before he could say anything, though, she looked up at him tentatively and asked, “Would you want to come with me?”

The air whooshed out of the Doctor’s lungs, and it was all he could do to nod vigorously. A slow smile crept across her lips as she took his hand and dragged him away. He went willingly; he would go anywhere with this woman.

It turned out to be the car park. She led him to a sporty black car and after checking the boot and seeing two suitcases and a few other bags, she ushered him into the car and they drove off. The Doctor didn’t know where they were going, and Rose didn’t say. She kept her eyes on the road but kept her hand tightly twined in his.

They arrived at a tiny cabin in the middle of nowhere beside a lake. It was nearly dusk by the time they arrived. He helped Rose carry the suitcases inside, and he discovered that the bags held mostly food and toiletry items.

They still had yet to say a word to each other.

It was dark, and the frozen pizza they’d made sat cold and mostly untouched.

“Come outside with me?”

The Doctor startled at her voice. She was standing beside him with her hand outstretched and a nervous smile on her face. He grinned brightly at her, took her hand, and let himself be dragged outside. The night was warm and the air was clean and crisp.

Rose dropped his hand for just a moment to get something from the boot of the car. A blanket? She walked towards a patch of grass a few meters away from the lake, and she lay the blanket down on the cold, damp ground. She sat on it, and held out her hand in invitation.

He immediately dropped down beside her, shuffling closer until his thigh was flush with hers. He took her hand in his, relishing the contact he’d ached for for years.

“Pete helped me buy this place a few months after I got here,” she said softly, gesturing around herself as she rubbed her thumb against the back of his. “I like it here. It’s quiet, and you can see the stars better than in London. They made me feel closer to you. Then, when they started disappearing, they reminded me why I needed to find you again.”

“You’re brilliant,” he said softly. He was so proud of her and so full of love for her that he was sure his tiny human heart was about to burst. “Absolutely brilliant.”

Rose cracked a smile, and said nothing else.

“I’m so confused,” she finally admitted quietly. “I’m so angry. He just left me here when he said he never would. And I tried so hard to get back to him only to end up back here again. I spent so long imagining what it’d be like when I found him…found you…”

Rose’s voice caught in her throat, and even though the Doctor’s heart was breaking, he pulled her into the v-shaped space between his legs. She went willingly, and curled herself into his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, holding her tightly. “I’m so sorry.”

“M’not angry with you, you know,” she said, tilting her head back to look at him. “I’m very glad you’re here with me. And I’m sorry you got trapped here, too.”

“I’m not trapped,” he corrected. “I wanted to stay with you. I meant everything I said to you earlier. I’ve got one life, and I will spend it with you, quite willingly, but only if you want me to.”

“I do,” she whispered. “I really do. And I’m happy you’re here.”

The knot in the Doctor’s chest loosened, and he curled himself more completely around her.

“I love you,” he said hoarsely into her neck.

“I love you, too.”

Her voice sounded thin as it cracked mid-way through her declaration, and he tightened his hold around her, trying to offer her as much strength and support, comfort and reassurance as he could through his embrace.

“I want to stay here for a few days at least,” Rose finally murmured into his chest. “As I said, I’m confused and hurt and angry and happy all at once, and I’d like it to just be us for a little while, until I sort through my emotions. That all right?”

“Oh, yes,” he breathed into her hair. “Nowhere else I’d rather be.”

She hummed happily in his arms. He felt her lips brush against the sensitive skin of his neck, and he tried to stifle the shudder that wanted to ripple down his spine.

“So what exactly happened to make you human?”

The Doctor took in a deep breath, and started to explain to her the finer points of regeneration and consciousness transfer and everything he knew about metacrises. He needed there to be no doubt in her mind that he was her Doctor, and it wasn’t just borrowed memories he had, but actual memories of experiences he shared with her. He needed her to accept him completely and fully as he was now in relation to how he’d been thirty-six hours ago.

He finished up, and she was still and quiet for just a moment before she pulled back to look him in the eye. He held his breath as her eyes searched his. Searching for what, he didn’t know, but he hoped she found it. He was quite certain she found it when she brought her fingertips up to trace the contours of his cheeks and jaw, before she held his face between her hands and brushed the lightest of kisses across his lips. It was soft and gentle and so tender it made his heart clench, and he tried to chase her lips when she pulled away.

“My Doctor,” she breathed, her eyes bright and shining.

“Your Doctor,” he whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead. “My Rose.”

“Your Rose,” she affirmed, peppering soft kisses across his jaw before she settled back against his chest.

He played with her fingers and nuzzled her hair as they sat in a content and comfortable silence. The Doctor occasionally pointed out constellations he was familiar with, and asked Rose about the ones that were new or the ones that were just a little bit different, but still beautiful nonetheless.

A meteor streaked across the sky, and the Doctor leaned down and said, “Make a wish.”

Rose tilted her head back to look at him, smiling as she said, “Already got my wish.”

It took the Doctor a moment to realize what she meant, but at her raised eyebrow and pointed stare, he finally understood and a slow smile lit up his face, and he couldn’t help but duck down and catch her lips between his once more.


End file.
